Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. producer says Luke Cage is not in the show

Ever since the first teaser footage was revealed for Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. , rumours have begun to fly concerning which Marvel heroes might be making an appearance.

However, fans putting two and two together have apparently been coming up with five, particularly in the case of J. August Richards’ character, who had widely been assumed to be none other than Luke Cage.

Cage was one of the first African-American characters to head up his own comic-book, but according to show producer, Jeffrey Bell, that isn’t the part Richards is playing.

“It’s not the [ character ] people are talking about," says Bell. “Honestly, we were looking for this part, and we just said, 'Look, all our parts are open to all diversity.' So the fact that we have a black dude who is awesome and it's J, was just because he was the best actor. It wasn’t like, 'You know who…!'”

Back to the drawing board then, rumour-merchants. Perhaps we could start with just how Agent Coulson has managed to resurrect himself from the dead? That should keep you busy for a little while...